This invention relates generally to fishing rods and, more particularly, to rods having means for an integral handle-reel seat for securing a tubular section rod tip thereto.
Most conventional fishing rods used for deep sea sport fishing are made of three primary sections, the rod blank or tip, the handle or butt, and the reel seat. The end of the butt is frequently in the form of a gimbal having intersecting notches to support the rod in various positions on a rod gimbal. High forces are frequently encountered in game fishing, which forces are transmitted through the rod to the butt assembly. Prior art rods formed of separate blank, handle and reel seats which are mechanically secured, e.g., epoxied, together are susceptible to breakage when the applied forces are great, as frequently occurs during sport fishing.
In my co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 253,334 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,439 filed on Apr. 13, 1981, and whose disclosure is incorporated by reference herein, there is disclosed an integral fishing rod, handle and reel seat which is simple in construction, relatively low in cost, yet provides good resistance to breakage at the handle. To that end, that rod comprises an integral rod, handle and reel seat. The rod comprises an elongated pole formed of fiberglas and having a distal end. The handle and reel holder comprise an elongated cylindrical member molded of a plastic material and having a front end in the form of a reel seat and the rear end in the form of a gimbal butt. The rod is permanently secured on the handle by molding the handle in situ on the distal end of the rod, with the distal end of the rod extending into the handle substantially the entire length thereof to a point immediately adjacent to the gimbal butt to serve as reinforcement for the handle.
While the rod disclosed in my aforementioned patent application is resistant to breakage and can be manufactured expeditiously, is not susceptible to disassembly of the rod tip from the handle in order to facilitate storage or transportation.
Numerous commercially available tubular section rods have been constructed to enable the repeated connection and disconnection of the rod tip or pole from the handle or butt. Such constructions typically have included a male ferrule formed of either brass, aluminum or chromium-plated steel at the bottom end of the rod tip and which is adapted to be frictionally fit within a mating female connector in the reel seat of the handle or butt. Typically, the reel seat is constructed of aluminum, brass or chromium-plated steel.
While prior art fishing rods constructed as described above are initially suitable for ready connection and disconnection, they frequently lose their capacity for such connection and disconnection due to corrosion of the connecting members. To overcome the corrosion problem some prior art rods have substituted fiberglas, phenolic, or other plastic materials for the connecting ferrules and reel seats. However, such rods have not proved sufficiently durable for long-term connection and disconnection inasmuch as the repeated connection and disconnection results in the wearing and loosening of the mating parts, thereby rendering the rods susceptible to accidental disconnection or breakage.